The height of the docks you dock at and the freeboard of the boats you raft with may vary, but the shape of YOUR boat's hull doesn't, and that is what you are protecting, so I have never understood the need for adjustability. What we did was hang out fenders from stainless snap hooks or carabiners, with a large enough mouth to fit around our stanchion bases. set the fender height, knot it, and it's done forever. Hanging fenders is as simple as snapping the shackle around the stanchion, and no pressure on the lifelines.

To solve the rubrail chafe problem, wrap the lines in leather chafe guards.

The height of the docks you dock at and the freeboard of the boats you raft with may vary, but the shape of YOUR boat's hull doesn't, and that is what you are protecting, so I have never understood the need for adjustability. What we did was hang out fenders from stainless snap hooks or carabiners, with a large enough mouth to fit around our stanchion bases. set the fender height, knot it, and it's done forever. Hanging fenders is as simple as snapping the shackle around the stanchion, and no pressure on the lifelines.

To solve the rubrail chafe problem, wrap the lines in leather chafe guards.

I took this idea one step further into the cheap zone. I bought those cheapo large aluminum carabiners 3 for a buck from the Dollar store and put two on each fender. One at the end of the fender line to clip onto the stantion base for fenders down and another carabiner right at the fender line knot to raise the fenders up and clip them high up on the life lines when sailing. When time comes to dock I just unclip from the life line and the fenders fall to the pre-determined hieght for the dock.

Dhays- my wife feels the same way. How do you adjust those, the pics show a stopper knot behind the grommet or an eye splice. So you have to "set" these to a specific spot either with a splice or stopper and then use them in the same location on the boat each time? A clove hitch is so easy I have been resisting this (irrational) decision for years but she ends up usually being the one to hang the fenders when we go in to a slip so maybe it's time I found something that works for her.

I simply use a double half hitch. Even my wife can adjust it up or down a bit using that. (at this point all of you are wondering if she can do that, why does she want a clip to begin with? Very good question. You don't really expect a rational answer though do you?) In practice, once the fender height is set, it rarely needs to be adjusted. We use four fenders on a side. Three of the four are at the same height. It makes it really easy for her and any other crew to carry them forward, clip them on the base of the stanchion and lay them on deck, and as we get very close to the dock just kick them over the side.

I've tired a bunch of different clips. I suggest buying one set of two and giving them a try. If your wife likes them, get some more. If she doesn't, keep looking.

I wouldn't tie the fenders to the life lines to begin with. If you don't have any other options, tie them to the bottom of the stanchions. On my dock, I've eliminated hanging them off the boat altogether by mounting them horizontally on the dock. I don't have to put them away on the way out, or take them out and hang them on the way in. They can't ride up on the dock, thereby becoming worthless. 100% of the fender contacts the hull and therefore cushions the boat. Vertically, it's 25% max. I find old fenders floating or laying around and use them, and keep the nice ones below. The only downside is that I'm out of the habit of getting fenders out when approaching a guest dock. I can live with that!

Wonderful idea, when and where it is allowed. Many (most?) marina's won't allow you to permanently attached anything to wooden docks as they feel it accelerates their deterioration. Also, it doesn't solve the OPs original question/problem unless he never docked anywhere but home and never rafted to another vessel.

I don't love tying to the lifelines, as they are naturally on the same side as the open gate and sag. Can't be good for the lifeline either, but that's not an educated opinion, just gut. Don't like the look, but it is much easier to tie off at your knees than at your feet.

I have the same "gut" reaction to tying anything to the lifelines. I prefer to save wear and tear on the lifelines so they may actually hold if I end up starting to go overboard. With any wave action, it is possible for the dock to place a lot of downforce on a fender. I don't like that much force on the lifelines. For this reason, I always tie off fenders from the base of a stanchion or if I can't for some reason, the middle lifeline. The clips we found, clip to the base of the stanchion easily.
Dave

I used to use those on my old boat. They may be okay for occasional use, but I found that if I left them on the lifeline for any length of time, they would get brittle and break. I assume from UV damage.

I used to use those on my old boat. They may be okay for occasional use, but I found that if I left them on the lifeline for any length of time, they would get brittle and break. I assume from UV damage.

Yeah, my first set lasted about a year and a half but, they're cheap ( 10 bucks/pr ), very simple to use and with the wife being in charge of such things as docking, stowing fenders & lines while getting underway, hell, whatever makes her happy.

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